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Grace Waves / Pastor’s Blog 06.01.18

It doesn’t have to be the blue iris – it could be weeds in a vacant lot, or a few small stones;

just pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try to make them elaborate;

this isn’t a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which

another voice may speak.

(Mary Oliver)

JazzCat Celebration: Join us for the conclusion of our 13th Jazz Season this Sunday at 5:00 pm when vocalist Clairdee will perform and we will honor Ed Klitsch for his creative endeavors throughout these years. This is one of the coolest ministries Peace has.

Rhythm and Spirt….and Sweat your Prayers: For those who love dancing and drumming and feeling alive in your body — our next Event is Saturday, June 9TH from 4 – 6 pm!Tanzania/Rwanda – PICO Organizing: Fr. John Rutsindintwarane(Rwandan by birth but who grew up in a Refugee Camp in Tanzania) is in the States and would love to share the impressive work that is happening within the Church Community in his home countries. He’ll arrive at Peace at Noon on Sunday, June 10. We’ll have an hour’s conversation over pizza. A few Tanzanian friends are intending to join us as well. This will be a fine opportunity to get a global perspective on the church and justice work.

For the Pure Pleasure of Summer! June 17, 4:30 pm. Swedish artists and friends Stefan and Maria Safsten (Words of Realness, New Folsom Prison Concert and UN 70th Concerts in New York and Grace Cathedral, SF) are visiting Spoon Jackson, poet and lifer (whose release we are praying for) and friends in the Bay Area. They offered to present a Concert at Peace for Piano and Organ – for the sheer joy of music, friendship and summer. Delightful yes? You are invited. It’s an occasion to welcome summer and bathe in life’s beauty.

Goran Berg’s Sycamore Chamber Orchestrawill be touring Sweden in the end of June! What a gift to these young musicians.

Please keep in your prayers: Margaret Bender, Mary Bibbs and family Jose and Karen, June Jones, the family of Mary Calhoun as they mourn her death, our young people and teachers as they conclude another school season.

Greenheart exchanges seeks Volunteers Hosts for French teens: June 26 – July 24. Established in 1985, Greenheart Exchange is a nonprofit international educational exchange organization. Our mission is to promote cultural understanding, academic development, environmental consciousness and world peace. Greenheart Exchange is designated by the United States Department of State as a J-1 Exchange Visitor Program sponsor and is currently granted full listing by the Council on Standards for International Educational Travel (CSIET). All of our group students give back to their host community by participating in one or more volunteer projects. Families with teens find this especially beneficial.

Gun Violence in America: Every day 93 Americans die from gun violence. Since Newtown, there have been over 200 School Shootings – one almost every week. American women are 16 times more likely to be shot and killed than women in other developed countries. Moms Demand Action encourages us to participate this Saturday on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Bavarian Catholic Cardinal rebukes Premier for Ordering Crosses placed in State Buildings: Cardinal Reinhard Marx has said directing all state buildings to hang crosses amounts to “expropriating the cross in the name of the state.” Bavarian Premier Markus Söder sparked nationwide criticism for the move. Most of the Lutheran bishops sided with the cardinal while the council chairman at the German Protestant church federation (EKD), welcomed Söder’s order —though with a twist: Those who hang up a cross must also take its message seriously, he told Bavarian public TV station. “This stands for human dignity, stands for charity, stands for humanity,” he said. The son of God, he added, had been tortured to death on the cross. “If we take that seriously, then we stand on the side of those who are vulnerable.” In light of Bavaria’s resistance to chancellor Merkel’s acceptance of refugees, it’s another way to turn the tables on this new policy. (Thanks to Karl Pfeiffer for this item.)